New Delhi

Former Pakistan team director Mickey Arthur has refuted the claims of being an 'online coach' made by some retired players during his tenure with Men in Green. Arthur, who served as Pakistan national team's director of cricket, was sacked in aftermath of 2023 ODI World Cup. Pakistan had failed to qualify to the semifinals in the quadrennial tournament with four wins and five losses from nine games. Mohammad Hafeez has replaced Arthur as Pakistan's new director of cricket.

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“Anybody who knows me will also know that I will not commit 100 per cent if I can’t do it. With Pakistan I was never an ‘online coach’ as I put together the coaching staff, I was in constant contact with them every single day and knew exactly what was going on within the team,” said Arthur as reported by the news agency PTI.

The comments were made by the former Pakistani cricketers as Arthur was simultaneously serving as the coach of English county side Derbyshire.

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“I trust Najam Sethi (former PCB chairman) implicitly. We have a very good relationship, and I went in to try and help him because I owe him a lot. He’s the one who gave me my opportunity to return to international cricket after I had been sacked by Australia. He and I built up a good relationship. One of the reasons I returned was to specifically work with Najam again,” he added.

Arthur also spoke about the environment in Ahmedabad during Pakistan's marquee clash against arch-rivals India in ODI World Cup, and said that it was quite tough and hostile. 

“As you can imagine it was a tough, hostile environment in Ahmedabad. But we were expecting this, and to their credit our players never moaned or complained once. They cracked on and tried their best – nevertheless it ultimately does play a role in motivation when you can’t see or hear that support base around you,” said Arthur.

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Notably, Arthur had criticised the International Cricket Council (ICC) after the match for not playing the music supporting Pakistan.